One girl's adventures in planning a wedding in Toronto

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Wedding Registries

Last year I had two family weddings to attend and a friends wedding. And i was really excited to shop for wedding presents. I LOVE shopping for wedding presents. It’s serious business folks.

The first wedding I began shopping about 3 months early because there was a sale on at the Bay (where they were registered), and what’s better than a wedding present in my budget?? So i poke around the china department at the Queen St location with the updated registry in hand. I wanted to get something fancy. I eyed something on the registry that looked like just my gift giving style, a set of four crystal rocks glasses. I hunted down a customer service rep (man, that was a mission) and pointed out the specific item that i wanted. We looked and looked and could only find 1 glass…. yeah that’s not gonna cut it. The CSR chimes in and says, “Oh! We can order that in for you, should be here in 6-8 weeks.” That sounded fine to me, the wedding was about 11 weeks away so that gave me a bit of a cushion. Fast forward to the week before the wedding and it’s still not arrived. No one from the store has called me, so i go INTO the store, and talk with the same guy who placed the order, and he says oh yeah no it’s not in yet.. thanks tips, i can SEE that. Do you know WHEN it will be in? No clue. NOT COOL. Now i look like a jack ass going to the wedding with no gift, i’d already paid for the stuff i ordered so i couldn’t give another gift. Over the next two months i go into the Queen st store on a regular basis to see what’s happening. No news. While visiting my mother i pop into her local Bay store and she looks up my order and says to me. Oh, that company has all their stuff on back order and it has to come in from the States, the orders only come through when they get enough. Finally a helpful/informed lady! So what was different on her computer screen that wasn’t on the screen at the FLAGSHIP store???I was livid.The gift finally arrived about 5 months after the wedding.

Needless to say this terrible experience stopped me buying the two other wedding gifts from the Bay/Home Outfitters. It’s also stopped me from wanting to register at the Bay/Home Outfitters. For the other weddings i opted for home made sentimental gifts that the couples really appreciated – one was a photo album with photos of them as they were dating put together by Shutterfly (along with a gift card to the LCBO). The other wedding we gave cash and set of custom coasters inspired by their wedding invites made by Carte Blanche Coasters.

A girl I used to work with is getting married this January, and since she already owns a home and all the furnishings for it, her and her fiance decided to register for a honeymoon, which i thought was a really neat idea! They used a site similar to EHoneymoonRegistry.com. It’s essentially a registry for cash, but your guests get to allocate their dollars to something specific, like a seat upgrade on the flight, or a welcome bottle of champagne or snorkeling lessons etc. Another neat registry i just read about is a down payment registry. If you’re like me and B we’re in the process of saving for the wedding and for a down payment on our first home. DownPaymentDreams.com is a website that looks to do just that, make your down payment dreams come true!

So i just thought i’d share some non-traditional registries in case there are others out there looking for something different!